UPDATED ON JANUARY 1, 2015 WITH READER VOTE AND ACTUAL DATA
Low-Cost? Low-Fare? Hybrid? However you define the operation of a new breed of airline companies with a stronger focus on cost structure and efficiency, there remains an unmistakable fact that they have changed the dynamics of the commercial aviation industry.
The development of the sector has been in direct response to the liberalisation of the market, as stringent legislation, which favoured the former state-owned flag carriers of the world, was relaxed to provide free competition.
However, the emergence of low-cost operations in the US can be traced back to before the deregulation of the domestic market, when in the mid-1960s Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) launched operations in California with high-frequency, low-price services.
This heralded the advent of the low-cost era, and by the end of the decade other operators had emerged, most notably Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which has become the father figure for today's operators thanks to its simple but successful business philosophy.
The liberalisation of European skies during the 1990s also resulted in the emergence of various start-up carriers competing directly with the established airlines by offering low-price alternatives. Although many of the existing airlines claimed to have a low-cost structure, this new breed of dedicated low-fare, no-frills carriers introduced very a different operating formula.
When the European market was first liberalised, more than 100 new operators launched scheduled international services in just three years. Although some of these were simply charter carriers establishing interests in the scheduled market, many were new independent start-ups.
Just as had happened in the US, a large proportion of these were unable to break the dominance of the established carriers and were either liquidated or absorbed by other operators. However, towards the end of the decade it was clear that a third tier of operators had taken root, offering much lower fares than had been seen in the market previously.
The aviation landscape in Europe is now very different to it was during the 1990s with brands such as easyJet, Norwegian and Ryanair now better known than the legacy flag carriers that have dominated the industry for decades.
But, which of the leading European low-cost operators reported the largest rise in network capacity in summer 2014 versus its flight schedule in summer 2013?
Let us know your thoughts! VOTE in the adjacent POLL and SHARE YOUR VIEWS in the comment section!
We closed the poll for the question... Which of the leading European low-cost operators reported the largest rise in network capacity in summer 2014 versus its flight schedule in summer 2013?... on December 31, 2014 and the chart below highlights how Routesonline readers voted.
We received 205 votes in the poll and it was a close run battle between Irish budget carrier Ryanair, short- and long-haul operator Norwegian, and Spain's Vueling. Only separated by a small number of votes, our readers believed that Vueling was the low-cost carrier with the largest capacity growth between summer 2013 and summer 2014, with a 23.4 per cent share of the vote, followed by Norwegian (21.0 per cent) and Ryanair (20.0 per cent). Slightly further back was easyJet with a 13.7 per cent share, followed by Wizz Air (8.8 per cent), Germanwings (7.3 per cent) and Pegasus Airlines (5.9 per cent).
According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, the actual airline to see the largest increase in network capacity was Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings with a massive 57.8 per cent capacity growth from 7.6 million seats in Summer 2013 to over 12 million in summer 2014. The airline heads this analysis due to a restructuring of the network of German flag carrier Lufthansa and the switch of non-hub flying to the Germanwings brand.
If you were to exclude the Lufthansa Group restructuring then our readers correctly identified that Spanish carrier Vueling Airlines was the fastest growing of Europe's largest low-cost/low-fare carriers in this analysis period with its summer network capacity rising a quarter from 15.07 million seats in 2013 to 18.84 million in 2014. Also reporting notable rises were Wizz Air (19.6 per cent), Pegasus (16.7 per cent) and Norwegian (13.2 per cent). easyJet witnessed a strong, but much lower 6.0 per cent summer network capacity rise in 2014, while Ryanair's capacity actually declined 0.6 per cent, according to the schedules data.
ROUTES TRIVIA: Look out for our JANUARY 2015 VOTE and POLL ONLINE NEXT WEEK!
Related Content
